Before his show today, Reed Krakoff said, "This is my most comfortable collection yet." It wasn't clear what he meant until the models started coming out on the runway. In the past, it sometimes felt like Krakoff was trying too hard, or as if he had something to prove. Here, there was a newfound simplicity. Boiled down to their essence, the clothes had a sense of urgency—no longer superfluous to needs.

Riffing on the concept of uniforms, Krakoff made tailoring the foundation of the collection without doing anything as straightforward as a pantsuit. There was a fantastic military coat in double-face charcoal cashmere, its hem swirling several inches below the knees, as well as shorter wool-blend chesterfields in deep forest green and ultramarine. The most winning look was a dark gray cropped cashmere jacket and wrap skirt with a deep leather hem worn with a crewneck sweater in the same shade. An ultramarine shirt with sheer insets and leather cuffs that topped matching gabardine pants was also strong. If monochrome was one fixation, the other was texture. Sheared fur tunics almost looked like velvet, and true panne velvet had a luxe sheen.

Krakoff ended with a group of crocodile-print pieces. After seasons in which digital prints have dominated the catwalks, he had set himself a hard task to make these seem relevant. For the most part, he succeeded. You could even argue that a crocodile-printed ponyskin coat looked cooler than it would have in the real thing. Bonus points for the chunky, low-heeled over-the-knee boots and a great new tote with a squat, angular shape that Krakoff is calling the Track bag.